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The older brother – Piotr – came third in left arm (12th in right). He is the first to share his experience with us.

Piotr, how do you feel about your start at the Zloty Tur 2016? Let's start with the left arm – you came third. Were you hoping for more?

Piotr Bartosiewicz: honestly, I wasn't hoping for a lot in left arm, I haven't been fighting with left for some time now, due to an injury. I have promised myself that I would give it all I had and see what happens :).

You were probably hoping for more in right arm – why only 12th place?

Piotr Bartosiewicz: I sure hoped for more, I actually wanted to win the category! But I lost due to a micro-foul, some three millimeters. I would have beat the Georgian guy [Davit Samushia] who came first, if it wasn't for that.

The toughest bout in left arm – who was it with?

Piotr Bartosiewicz: Zaur Saitov from Russia, he put me in a very uncomfortable position from the start – he went for the triceps. My injury popped back up and my chances for a fight with Magzhan Shamiyev from Kazakhstan went out the window. I watched the video of this fight many times, I could have done it differently, but in the end I just “murdered” my arm.

You had some complaints about the refereeing. What do you think now, when the excitement has passed a little?

Piotr Bartosiewicz: first of all, I want to say that I will keep on fighting, no matter how many mistakes the referees make. But many competitors may lose motivation to train and fight, because they felt unfairly treated. And then there is the audience, who want to watch fights, not micro-fouls! In my opinion, it is the fight that should decide the score, not millimeter-sized errors – especially as a millimeter of an elbow slip has no impact on the fight, such slips happen many times!

Refereeing is hard work, especially on a pro level. But I would wish for the referees to consider the issue of micro-fouls, whether they are really important. I had a mini-foul like that when I fought Rafał Woźny, and I lost. Had I won, the podium might have looked different.

What are your thoughts on the Zloty Tur 2016 Cup?

Piotr Bartosiewicz: I've been in love with this event for years! There is no better event in the whole world. I have set a goal for myself – win the Zloty Tur, and I will not rest until I do!

You are older than Dawid. Were you the first to start training armwrestling?

Piotr Bartosiewicz: it all began when we met Artur Głowiński. Our first real training was with him. Strictly speaking, I was the first to start in a tournament, but afterwards we went head to head together.

Do you train together?

Piotr Bartosiewicz: only sometimes, we train in different places usually.

Dawid Bartosiewicz placed 4th ate the Zloty Tur Cup 2016, in the 78 kg category, right arm, and 14th in left – but we won't talk about that :)

What are your thoughts about your start at the Zloty Tur? Were you hoping for more?

Dawid Bartosiewicz: I won't comment too much on left arm, I wasn't counting on it much – it's my more injured arm, I rarely use it 100%. As for the right – of course I wanted a medal, maybe even do better than last year. Alas, no medal for me, but I am still satisfied with my bouts, especially seeing as my 24-person class was full of champions – world, European and last year's. I was the only one to actually put up a fight with the winner of the category that day, and I only lost because of fouls ...

If the draw was better, could you have taken the 2nd place? Or 1st? Or were those unreachable?

Dawid Bartosiewicz: after I got bumped down to lower group, I knew I would have to work hard to get to the medal group. I had to go through guys like the current older juniors' champion of the world and the champion and vice-champion of the world... I beat the first two but had no strength left for Raihanov. But I'm not complaining, I was at the top of the group, the fights were hard and heavy, I feel fulfilled.

You had some doubts about refereeing ...

Dawid Bartosiewicz: I had, as to one particular referee... What more can I say?

Conclusions need to be drawn from situations like that, so that they do not happen in the future – let's keep in mind that they are there for us – not the other way round. We have to work hard and train hard for years, we have to demand justice and fair treatment at such important events!

What are your general impressions from this event?

Dawid Bartosiewicz: Zloty Tur is the best event in the world in every respect, gathering all the strongest people in the world every year, in every weight category. It is very professional and Igor and his people work very hard for it. This is often the last tournament of the season for many people, so it's like a gift to ourselves for the next year.

Do you and Piotr train together?

Dawid Bartosiewicz: we haven't done much together in preparations for this. We work out at two different gyms. We try to meet regularly for sparring sessions.

Do you compete seriously?

Dawid Bartosiewicz: we have always sparred seriously, just like it should be... We are in the same weight class, so we sometimes have to fight each other. We both love to fight! And this is not boxing, it's not like we are punching each other in the face, so this type of rivalry is less severe. At the tournament we had to decide which of us will go on competing, this requires considering the rivals, the shape one's in, not to mention pains and aches. We've decided I will be the one to go on fighting. My bouts were shorter and I had no aches, I was more confident in myself.